Blackpink —PHOTO COURTESY OF YG ENTERTAINMENT
Twenty minutes past 7, the lights went down inside the Philippine Arena, and, for a fleeting instant, the venue was pitch black. All there was to see was a sea of pink.
On the screens, an enchanting video of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa looking like alluring forest nymphs played. And in the bedlam of cheering and screaming, the spotlight beamed at the stage revealed the four Korean superstars on a raised platform, their hands on their hips, their gaze fixed on the crowd.
Blackpink was in the house.
With a burst of fireworks, the girls marched down to thumping beats, before segueing to “How You Like That.” The next two tracks, the swaggering hip-hop-inflected “Pretty Savage” and the mischievous club tune “Whistle,” sustained the frenetic energy. And the Blinks, the group’s ardent fans, couldn’t help but chant and sing along—all the while pumping their heart-shaped light sticks.
Looking and listening to the crowd, you wouldn’t believe that the vast majority of them had camped outside the venue for several hours prior to showtime. It didn’t matter what their beloved idols did onstage—they could be performing or simply trying to banter—but the indefatigable fans made sure that Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa heard their clamor loud and clear.
They were so loud the girls could barely hear themselves. “I think this is the loudest crowd I have ever heard,” Rosé said on the opening night of the group’s recent two-day Philippine stop of their “Born Pink World Tour.”
Her mouth agape and eyes wide open in awe, Rosé surveyed the crowd. “Goosebumps!” Lisa squealed. And together, they rubbed their arms to shake them off. Mesmerized by the cloak of twinkling lights that seemingly enveloped the stage, Jennie said: “I didn’t realize the seats went up so high. It looks like the stars are up there.”
Intimate atmosphere
For the most part of the concert (mounted by Live Nation Philippines), Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa reveled in hard-hitting tracks that had them pulling off moves that alternated between sharp and intense, and playful and flirty. They shuffled effortlessly in and out of dance formations and struck fierce poses to rhythmic beat drops.
And when you package those performances in a mesh of dazzlingly intricate lightworks, pyrotechnics and well-curated videos, you get a heady feast for the senses. Among the standout numbers were: “Kill this Love” in which the girls navigated moving ramps and platforms; “Pink Venom,” a rather disjointed, but still exhilarating mishmash of musical concepts; and the catchy, trap-beat laden dance anthem “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du,” which the girls punctuated with an extended dance break on the b-stage. The show wasn’t all shock and awe, though. Once in a while, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa slowed things down and created a more intimate atmosphere with gentler pop midtempos. The girls teased each other and made cutesy gestures in “Don’t Know What to Do” and prompted the fans to wave their light sticks in “Tally,” a breezy track that mixes hip-hop and soft rock.
Solo numbers
Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa were also given solo numbers that allowed them to showcase their respective strengths, skills or qualities: the usually demure Jisoo revealed a sultrier side in a Latin-tinged cover of Camila Cabello’s “Liar”; the ever-cool Jennie incorporated shadow dance in the deliberate and seductive “You & Me.”
Vocals were the centerpiece to Rosé’s performances of “Hard to Love” and “On the Ground,” which saw her delivering an alluring floor choreography with the backup dancers. In “Lalisa” and “Money,” Lisa transitioned from a come-hither pole dance routine at the back to a sharp or spunky sequence on the b-stage. More than her rapping and dancing, Lisa also brimmed with stage presence that allowed her to work the crowd with ease.
“I must say, you guys are really getting us excited!” said Rosé, as she and Lisa put their hands over each other’s hearts. “Can you feel my heart racing?”
“One thing I’m really loving is seeing people really jumping and dancing and singing along with us,” Jennie said. “We appreciate it and it makes us very happy. Keep going harder than ever.”
Toward the end of the show, Blackpink dished out some of the older hits, “Forever Young,” “Boombayah,” “Stay” and “As If It’s Your Last,” sending a wave of nostalgia across the arena. “I’m sorry we haven’t come back in four years, but I’m pretty sure that the Philippines did not forget about us,” Rosé said.
The Filipino Blinks sure didn’t. In fact, the group packed the Philippine Arena for two straight nights—a first for any music artist in the history of the said venue. And for that, Blackpink couldn’t be more thankful. “Thank you, Philippines! Salamat po, Philippines!” the four singers said repeatedly as they bid goodbye to the fans. INQ